Tape guide



Ju n 8, 1943. F. J. ROUAN ETAL TAPE GUIDE Filed Feb. 8, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVEN BY Evade/wk June 8, 1943.

F. J. ROUAN ETAL TAPE GUIDE Filed Feb. '8. 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTO s Patented June 8, 1943 has TAPE GUIDE Francis J. Rouan and Frederick L. Ford, Stamford, Conn, assignors to Pitney-Bowes Postage Meter (30., Delaware Stamford, 001111., a corporation of Application February 8, 1941, Serial No. 378,018

3 Claims.

This invention relates to means for guiding tape to a printing position in a postage printing machine and is more particularly related to the guide structure which provides for the guiding of a horizontally disposed tape from the side to the front of the machine, and further provides for the removability and detachability of the guide when it is desired to clean same.

To produce machines in the lower price range, it is desirable to make same as small and compact as possible. One of the devices in a letter and tape postage printing machine which ordinarily increases the size of the machine, is the tape supply and means for guiding same.

The common practice has been to place the tape unit at the front of the machine to permit the direct feed of the tape to a printing position. Owing to letter feeding devices however, which take precedence in position on the machine, the tape supply must. take a secondary position and has usually been extended beyond one end of the machine or has been placed under the letter feeding devices. In the former instance, the machine is increased in length and in the latter instance the height of the machine is increased.

In the present structure a tape supply is arranged at one side of the machine, and a guide is provided with means to bend and direct the tape from the side to the front of the machine while maintaining same in a horizontal position. In this manner the tape supply is removed from the front of the machine and results in a compact structure.

It is also highly desirable in the construct1on of tape uiding devices, to provide means whereby the said guides may be easily removed and taken apart for cleaning. This is particularly J useful during the hot humid weather of the summer when the sticky gummed portion of the tape builds up a deposit of gum in the tapeguides and eventually interferes with the operation of the machine.

It is one objectof this invention therefore, to provide guide means for a tape unit whereby the tape may be turned at right angles from the supply when guiding said tape to the printing station.

It is a further object to provide a guide-structure which is readily detachable from the machine.

It is also an object to provide guide means which is easy to take apart for cleaning.

With the above and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds,

the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that various changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein;

Fig. 1 is a plan View, showing a portion of a machine with a tape supply unit at one side and a tape guide means at the front thereof;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational View taken in the direction of the arrow 2 on Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view with parts in section and parts broken away, taken in the direction of the arrow 3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view through a tubular guide track taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an upper tape guide adjacent the printing station and taken along the line 55 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the machine for which the device of this invention is provided is a metered mailing machine, the purpose of which is to print stamped impressions upon letters which are adapted to be fed therethrough or to print stamped impressions upon tape. Insofar as the letter printing is concerned, it forms no part of this particular invention and is therefore not intended to be included as a part of this description other than to identify it as such a machine by reference to the printing station, indicated generally at Hi, and to include the letter feed means, generally indicated at H.

At the printing station there is included a printing drum I 2 and an impression roller 43. The impression roller 53 is carried by a depressible bracket M, which is pivotally mounted at Z! on a support it, and the support I5 is mounted on a machine base it.

In providing a tape device which is adapted to gummed tape to the printing station, a tape supply. which includes a roll of tape H, is mounted upon a shaft 18 carried by a support 19. Said support 89 is situated at one side of the machine, best shown in Fig. l, and it also includes a housing 2|, which is adapted to enclose the tape supply. The tape T is led over asuitable takeup device, indicated at 22. the same being adapted to direct the tape in a substantially horizontal plane with the gummed surface uppermost. Upon leaving the take-up device, the tape is-con- '41-4! and having an opening 42 therein.

tinued forward to a tape guide unit 23 at the front of the machine from whence it will be directed in a path which is at right angles to the path of the tape supply.

Referring to Fig. 4, said tape guide unit 23 comprises an upper guide track 24 and a lower guide track 25, each track being of channel formation and having side flanges 21-21 and 28-28 respectively. Said guide tracks are also adapted to nest in a spaced apart relation with their flanges abutting to provide a tubular opening 26. A plurality of sets of notches 28 are cut in the flanges 21 and 28 on one side of the tape tracks and a like set of notches 3| are cut in the flange 28 on the opposite side. Also in alignment with the notches 31. are openings 32 in the flange 21.

By means of coiled springs 33, which have their ends looped and stretched into engagement with the notched portions 29-31, including the passing of one end through the opening 32, the said tracks 24 and 25 are clamped securely together. The lower right hand end of the track 25 also has a plate 34 secured thereto which is bent to form a mouth 35.

To assemble the said tape unit 23 to the machine, the mouth portion 35 is inserted first from one end of the machine and is moved into engagement with stop pins 38-35, projecting inwardly from supports l-l5. At the opposite end ofthe tape guide unit, a screw is passed through an opening in one flange and is screwed into the base I6, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. This, it will be observed, provides for quick detachability of the tape unit as a whole, by simply removing one screw 31 and slipping the guide out of the machine. Further detachability of the guide itself is provided by the clamp springs 33, which are readily removable from the notches 28 to permit the separation of the two tracks 24-25 for cleaning of the inner track surfaces.

At the upper left end of the track 24, as viewed from Fig. 3, the track is rolled back at an angle of 45 degrees to provide a loop 40 in alignment with the tape supply. The tape T is thus guided from the supply over said loop 40, which causes the tape to be turned at right angles to the direction of the supply, and it passes through the tubular opening 26 of the tape guide 23 in an inverted order. The gummed surface which, as previously described, was on the upper surface, is now on the lower surface of the tape, thus placing the paper sulface at the top to receive the printed impression at the printing station during a printing operation.

A second tape track is provided, as indicated at 38, which track is supported by the depressible bracket l4 and is therefore movable with relation to the tape guide 23, when thick letters pass between the printing drum l2 and impression roller l3. Said second tape track comprises a U-shaped guide portion 39, having side guides A plate 43, secured to the upper side of the tape track 38, has two down turned lugs 44 and two upturned lugs 45. A bridge plate 46 is connected with walls 50-50 of the depressible bracket M, as best shown in Fig. 5, and a rod 41 is also connected with said walls 50-50 in a predetermined spaced relation to the bridge plate 46.

When inserting the tape track 39 in its operating position, it is passed downwardly between the rod 41 and bridge plate 46 until a notched end 48 of the lug 44 engages with notched portions 49 in the bridge plate 46. The tape track 38 is rigidly held in position through contact of the upper edges of the side guides 4l-4l with the rod 41, also through contact of depressed portions 5l-5l with the upper surface of the bridge plate 46. The upper edges of the lugs 45-45 also butt against a letter feed plate 52. To further assure the rigidity of the tape track 38 it is locked in the assembled position above described by means of a pin 53, which is inserted directly behind the lugs 44-44 and is secured in the walls 50-50 of the depressible bracket I4.

In view of the bracket l4 being depressible, the meeting ends of the tape guide 23 and tape track 38 are arranged to clear each other and yet provide suitable guide surface for the tape T when it is advanced from the guide 23 to the tape track 38. For this purpose, prongs 54 are provided on the lower track 25 of the guide 23, which prongs are nested within an opening 55 in the end of the tape track 38. Prongs 55-55 on the track 38, also cooperate with the prongs 54-54.

When loading the device with a roll of tape, the roll is inserted upon the shaft IB and the leading end thereof is first passed over the takeup device 22, then over the loop 40 of the upper track 24, and through the tubular opening 26 between the tracks 24, 25. The tape is thus guided through the tape guide 23, over the prongs 54 and 55, and through the track 38 to a printing position.

The tape is fed while printing, and after a cutting operation, the leading end is adapted to be returned to a printing position, there being suitable tape controlling devices for this purpose. Said devices form no part of the present invention, but are shown and described in a Patent No. 2,204,972.

If after extended use,trouble is encountered in the feeding of the tape through the tape guides, owing to the accumulation of dirt or the sticking of the gummed surfaces to the tape track during humid weather, the said tape tracks are adapted to be quickly withdrawn for cleaning by the removal of the screw 31 and pin 53. The tape guide 23 is further quickly detachable for entry to the inner surfaces of the tape tracks 24-25, thus making it possible to provide for a cleaning operation and for the replacement of the tape guide very quickly.

Having described the claimed is:

1. A tape guide, comprising an upper guide track and a lower guide track, one of said guide tracks being adapted to nest within the other guide track and being spaced apart to provide a tubular passage through which tape may freely pass, flanges projecting from the sides of each of said guide tracks and having coinciding notches spaced apart along the sides of one pair of coinciding flanges, and spring members having one end of each anchored on the opposite flanges and their opposite ends detachably engageable with the notched sides.

2. In a tape printing machine, the combination with a tape supply including a stationary tape guide therefor, and a depressible impression member including a tape guide movable therewith; including a stop member and an anchoring member to detachably support the stationary tape guide, means including a stop member and an anchoring member to detachably support the movable tape guide, and means on said guides at the point where both guides meet to provide an unbroken guide surface.

3. In a tape printing machine, the combinainvention, what is tion with a tape supply including a stationary tape guide therefor, and a depressible impression member including a movable tape guide movable therewith; of means to detachably support the stationary tape guide, means to detachably support the movable tape guide, means on said guides at the point where both guides meet to provide an unbroken guide surface, said guide members being insertable from opposite ends of the machine, stop means to establish the position of the stationary guide member, means to anchor said stationary guide against said. stop means, stop means to establish the position of the movable guide member, and means to anchor said movable guide member against said stop means.

FRANCIS J. ROUAN. FREDERICK L. FORD. 

